Order Your Free Dental Health Kit to Earn the Purple Daisy Petal Respect Myself and Others

Updated November 2019

I know that you are knee deep into the holiday season, but I wanted to post this free dental health program for Girl Scout leaders. Once the New Year starts, it will be cookie season and you may not get to order this in time for your February meeting.

                          

Photo from Pixabay

For those of you who do not know, February is Dental Health Month. This is the perfect time to earn the Purple Daisy Petal with this program from Colgate. Good dental health is respecting yourself because you only get one set of adult teeth. Once you lose those, there is nothing left to chew with!

The Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Future kit is no longer available. However, there are plenty of free materials on the Colgate website. You can find them here.

Another Quick Girl Scout Holiday Meeting!

Updated November 2019

Are you busy right now? I am! I love the holidays, but with two real world part time jobs as well as my online writing, I am always looking for a good shortcut that will make for a fun meeting for the girls and easy planning for myself.

Last year, my Cadette troop made cookies for our December meeting. (You can read about it here.)

I also wrote a blog post last December for an easy cookie meeting for your Daisy troop. You can read about it here. 

This year we will be baking cookies and muffins for the homeless men who stay two weeks at our synagogue during the month of December. I love giving to others and focusing on helping those in need and after eight years, this has become a tradition for my troop!

A Thought to Ponder...What Should You Do During the December Holidays?

If this is your first year as a Daisy leader, then you are in the midst of planning your first holiday celebration with your troop.

On Girl Scout Gab, one of the many Girl Scout Facebook groups that I belong to, there was an emotional and heated discussion about what to do with a girl in a troop that did not celebrate Christmas. Should she just not be included or should the leader not have a holiday party.

The responses simply floored me.

I wrote about this in greater detail on my main Girl Scout Leader blog. You can read about the discussion here and weigh on on what you think.

A Quick and Easy Holiday Meeting Idea!

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Updated November 2019

Here is an easy meeting for you to schedule during this hectic holiday season!

Image created on Canva

Children love to make gifts for their families. If you are short on cash because you are a new troop, you can still make something and earn a Daisy petal for being Considerate and Caring.

Materials

Construction paper 
Markers
Scissors
Fillers for bag (read more below)

Snowflake cellophane bags from Amazon

Snowman Stickers from Amazon

500 Winter Foam Stickers from Amazon

Bag filler from Amazon

Fillers

Hot chocolate packets

Snowman candy

Gold coin candy

Mints

Snowflake favors (sold in bulk)

Have the girls make cards for their family using the craft materials listed above. By using winter themed items, you avoid conflicts with girls who celebrate different holidays.

When the cards are done, have a "filling station" guided by your co-leader and you. The girls each get a snowflake bag and add some confetti to the bottom. Then add any of the fillers you bought and tie with curling ribbon. If you want the girls to keep this as a surprise for their families, then you can also have them decorate white gift bags with the extra stickers you have and place the gift inside. Add festive tissue paper and you are done!

Enjoy planning this easy and fun meeting with your Daisy Scouts!

Inexpensive Gifts for Daisy Girl Scouts

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Updated November 2019

The holiday season is around the corner. Whether you want to give a small gift to the girls in your troop or for your own daughter, here are some gift ideas aimed just for Daisy Girl Scouts.

Here is an adorable necklace just for Daisies! It is a wonderful gift for your daughter and it has free shipping. Also available for Brownie Scouts as well.

This doll is available with blonde hair.

Carly comes with stickers.

A sweet little gift that you can give to your girls in a cello bag with some candy is a cookie flavored Lip Smacker. Break up the set to hand out one to each girl. You can also buy these as singles for a stocking stuffer or as an add on gift if you are handing a girl a gift card.

If your daughter is into American Girl dolls, then this Daisy uniform for 18 inch dolls is just what she will want to have.

This is a gift set of Girl Scout uniforms for 18 inch dolls.

Barbie is now a Girl Scout! Fans of this iconic doll will enjoy having one in uniform.

She is also available as an African-American.

The popular Girl Scout Cookie Oven is a big gift for your little girl. Add some cookie mixes to the gift and your daughter will be baking for hours!

Enjoy having a little girl this holiday season!

Winter Craft Kits for Girl Scouts

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Updated November 2019

In a post from last year, I shared why your winter crafts should be non-denominational if you have a diverse group of girls in your troop. There are many wonderful winter crafts that you can do and everyone can be comfortable participating while creating them.

For some great craft kits like bracelets and frames that are still available, you can read this post.

Snow Cone Snowman Craft Kit (Makes 12)

Felt Snowman Pin Craft Kit (Makes 12)

Flower Pot Snowman Craft Kit Makes 12

Foam Smile Face Snowman with Sunglasses Magnet Craft Kit - Makes 12

Beaded Snowman Charm Bracelet Craft Kit

Community Service Books for Daisy Scouts

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Updated November 2019

In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of Girl Scouting is performing community service. In today's busy world, there are a million excuses not to volunteer (which is why you are the one who stepped up to lead your daughter's troop-everyone else was "too busy"). While there are periods of one's life when giving of your time is not possible (no babysitter or grandparents to help, caring for a sick family member, working 80 hours a week), we all do have time to help out on short term projects. We have to choose to make the time.

Young children have a natural empathy for others in need. If we as leaders can harness that willingness to help, we may be able to help sow a new generation of volunteers.

Service projects do not have to elaborate at this age. Before you do your project, you may want to read one of these great picture books to the girls.

Available on Amazon

Uncle Willie's Soup Kitchen tells the story of a boy who accompanies his Uncle to the soup kitchen where he works. Using pictures and words that children can understand, compassion is taught to the reader as she gets a realistic look at how one operates.

Available on Amazon

Maddi and Sofia are friends who like to play together after school. One day, Sofia sees that there is no food in Maddi's fridge, and Maddi tells Sofia to keep this a secret. While there are good secrets and bad secrets, Sofia is torn at what to do. This book has so many valuable lessons to teach the girls, including that hunger can be right in their own community affecting children their own age. This book has a five star rating.

Available on Amazon

Here is another book that shares how one small act can reap great rewards. After not cooperating, the characters realize that they all need to help to get their coveted vegetables. A lesson in cooperation and how working together helps all achieve their goals and kindness and sharing create positive results.

Have you read any of these books? Do you have any others to suggest?

How to Earn the Light Blue Daisy Petal Honest and Fair

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Updated November 2019

One of the things you will be doing as a Girl Scout leader is to help your troop earn the light blue Daisy petal, honest and fair. You will have to have engaging hands on activities for your kindergarten and first grade girls. It is also a good idea to have an extra volunteer or two to help you and your co-leader, as the craft will benefit from having an extra set of hands.

Image created by the author on Canva

Materials You Need to Earn the Light Blue Daisy Petal

Book- The Boy Who Cried Wolf or The Wolf Who Cried Boy

Brown Paper Bags-one for each girl for the craft, and one for each girl for the game

Small aluminum foil balls

Wolf template

Crayons or markers

Glue sticks

Scissors

Small treat for each girl

Before the meeting, make a wolf puppet to show the girls. Not only do they benefit from seeing a completed example, but you can work out any potential problems and correct them before you get to the meeting.

You will also have to prepare a bag for each girl. In three of them, put a treat like a Hershey Kiss. In the others, put a small aluminum foil ball.

At the start of the meeting, tell the girls that they will be working on earning the Daisy Girl Scout petal honest and fair. Ask the girls what it means to lie. Ask how they would feel if someone lied to them. Would they believe the person the next time they told them a story? Talk about honesty, and discuss the expression “honesty is the best policy”.

Then read the book The Boy Who Cried Wolf. At the right spots, stop and talk about the boy’s lies. This is a classic story that has stood the test of time because of the lesson it teaches.

Available on Amazon

If you want a book that is a bit sillier, but teaches the same lesson, read The Wolf Who Cried Boy. It tells the story from a different point of view, but it teaches the same thing.

Available on Amazon

When the story is over, talk about the moral and then it is time for the craft.

Give each girl a template of a wolf to color and write her name on the back of it. Let them color it in any way they want-don’t stifle their creativity! Then they can cut the pieces and glue them on the right spots on the paper bag (this is where the extra parent volunteers become essential).

While the puppets are drying, play a game with the girls. Hand each one a brown paper bag that has been sealed shut. Tell them that they can keep whatever is in the bag. Have them give it a shake and have them guess what it is. Then have the girls open up their bag and share what is inside. The girls who have the Hershey Kiss will be delighted. The girls who have a foil ball will not think that this is very fair.

Then talk about the importance of being fair. Then give every girl a Hershey Kiss!

Doing this activity to earn the light blue Daisy petal, honest and fair, will surely teach this important lesson to your troop.

Thanksgiving Craft Kits

Photo from Pixabay

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Updated November 2019

I know that it is only October and you have not celebrated Founder's Day yet, but a good leader has to plan ahead. The holiday season is very hectic and the last thing you are going to want to do is plan something last minute and get all frazzled. You have a month until Thanksgiving, so you will need to get your November meeting under control soon.

Make it easy on yourself...use a craft kit to make your prep time easier. Read a Thanksgiving book, collect some items for a food pantry if you have not done so for Founder's Day or make cards for family members. Then use a Thanksgiving craft kit to finish up your meeting.

Here are some ideas for you to use.

How to Earn the Violet Daisy Petal Be a Sister to Every Girl Scout

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Updated November 2019

There is a sisterhood among Girl Scouts, and here is an activity to foster this and earn your troop the violet Daisy petal, be a sister to every Girl Scout. The Girl Scouts have been around for one hundred years, and core to the value system is that scouts should respect and be kind to each other.

Earning the violet Daisy petal can be done locally with another troop. Contact your person on your Service Unit who is in charge of Daisy Girl Scouts. Ask if she can send a mass email out to all of the Daisy leaders and to see if any are interested in becoming pen pals. One of the benefits of having a local pen pal troop is that at the end of the year, you can meet at a local park and meet each other! It would be a great end of the year field trip.

Once you have found a local sister troop, you can work on the petal at your next meeting. Since most kindergarteners and many young first graders cannot write well, you will need extra volunteers to help transcribe the letter. Or you can get an older junior troop to help you with this activity (another great way to e a sister to every Girl Scout!)

At the start of the meeting, talk about what it means to be a sister to every Girl Scout. Obviously, the Girl Scout founders were not talking about your relatives. What did they mean?

Also ask the girls if they know what a pen pal is. These days, most will not. Tell them that they are going to be pen pals with a “sister” Daisy Girl Scout troop in town. Discuss what they can write about themselves and then the volunteers will write it for them. They can draw a picture to include with the letter.

Once the letter is done, the girls can make a simple Swap. A Swap is a Girl Scout tradition that goes back many years. Troops make a little craft to give to a sister scout. The Swap can be a beading project like this one.

Girls can make a Swap with the numbers of their troop on it.

Available on Amazon

There are 300 number beads in this set.

Add one or two green pony beads at either end.

These extra large safety pins will hold the beads.

Collect the letters and swaps and trade with your “sister” leader at the next volunteer meeting. Make sure her girls have their ready for you, or your troop might be disappointed. Depending on how often your troop meets, you can do this activity a few times before meeting. Even just making a simple swap to exchange is enough.

This activity for earning the violet Daisy petal, be a sister to every Girl Scout, can be continued for the rest of the year or for years to come.

Last Minute Founder's Day Ideas

Girl Scout Founder's Day 2015 is around the corner, and for leaders both old and new, it might have just snuck up on them. Here are some quick ideas for you to do with your troop during the next two weeks.

Photo credit: By Edward Hughes (1832-1908), painter. (Daderot (I took this photograph)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

1. Make Cards for the Military

Younger Girl Scouts need to be taught that one of the missions of the movement is to do service for others. Making cards to be sent overseas to the military is one thing that is easy to do. Since it takes a while to get there, make Thanksgiving cards using stickers, feathers, and hand prints. Talk to the girls about why they are doing this and why we should be thankful to these men and women. Add some hard candy to them and send!

2. Make Halloween Crafts to Give to Senior Citizens

Many people in senior citizen homes get few visitors and even less mail. Why not make cards or cute, inexpensive crafts to deliver to one of your local centers? And if it is too late to do arrange a field trip, just make the cards and relier them yourself.

3. Birthday in a Bag

This is an idea that started with a troop a few years ago and is one that I have done with mine. Have each girl bring in cake mix and tub frosting. Troop funds can purchase pretty napkins, a horn blower, and white bags from the craft store to decorate. Donate to a local food bank.

Juliette Gordon Low would be proud to see all the good work that goes on to celebrate her birthday this year, Girl Scout Founder's Day 2015.

Girl Scout Swap Kits Are Easy to Do and Fun to Make

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One of the Girl Scout traditions is called a Swap. (You can read about them in this blog post.) These are little trinkets that girls exchange with each other and they collect them over the years.

As a Daisy leader, you have a lot on your plate to plan, especially if this is your first year. There are several ready made Swap kits for you to purchase that your girls will love to do.

Snacks at Meetings

One of the most often asked questions that I read in the Girl Scout forums year after year after year has to do with snacks. Should you have them? If so, who should bring them? What if there are allergies-who is responsible for this child's food?

Photo from Pixabay

I have written a long blog post about snacks at meetings. I had one daughter who had a leader who did a snack rotation for each meeting (and of course, there were ball droppers) and as a leader, I had my girls bring their own.

There are plusses and minuses for having snack time. Read about what they are here before you make your final decision.

Do you have a snacks at your meeting? Why or why not?

10 Frequently Asked Girl Scout Daisy Leader Questions (With Answers)

Updated September 2022

As adults, we oftentimes forget that learning something new can be a challenge. We are so used to doing things and being successful right away, that we forget the learning curve that comes with each new skill set we acquire.

Leading a group of Daisy Girl Scout is probably a very new experience for everyone reading this blog post. You have questions-lots of them. 

Here are some of the most common questions I have seen over the years. You can always check with your Service Unit Manager for your local answers if you feel they may differ from these.

1. Do you have to earn the petals in any special order?

No, you do not. You should start with the Blue Promise Center simply because all of the petals go around it.

2. Can you earn more than one Daisy petal at a meeting?

While every petal deserves a meeting of its own, there are times when you need to overlap the activities to earn your petals and finish the Daisy. This is true if you are starting as a second year Daisy leader or if you have had meetings cancelled due to inclement weather-which happens to me at least once a year.

There are no Girl Scout police that will rip petals off of a child's tunic or vest if you do this on occasion. Feel free to go ahead and do what works best for your girls and your timetable. There are several articles on my blog with meeting plans to earn multiple Daisy petals with one activity.

3. Do I have to do a Journey?

Plain and simple, no you do not. In fact, Journeys are not required for anything until the girls' Junior year AND if they want to earn the Bronze Award. If the girls do not want to earn higher level awards, then your troop never needs to do a Journey as they get older. It is a choice, and one that is far in your troop's future.

My troop only did a Journey as 5th grade Juniors so we could earn the Bronze Award. Presently, we are slowly doing the aMaze Journey for those who want to earn the Silver Award.

Image created on Canva

4. We earned all the petals our first year. What do we do for the second if we do not want to do a Journey?

There are so many activities that your troop can do. There are Girl Scout holidays like Founder's Day, World Thinking Day and Girl Scout Week to dive into. 

There are Daisy badges to earn (check out my website devoted to earning Daisy badges)

There are community service projects you can work on and you can go on field trips. There are Council events for you to participate in, so check your Council's website.

Of course, selling Girl Scout cookies will keep you busy as well! Meetings to bling your booth and teach the girls about what to do while selling and how to speak to people are meeting ideas for mid-year.

It also does not hurt to redo a petal activity using a different lesson, especially the one about being a sister to every Girl Scout. Stamp out cliques and cattiness from the beginning.

Photo from Pixabay

5. Do Daisy Scouts have to sell cookies or participate in the QSP Magazine/Nut fundraiser?

Again, the answer is no. Fundraisers are optional activities. Most first year Daisy leaders are just getting started in late fall, after nut sales and right before cookies. How can you make little girls sell cookies and they have no clue what being a Girl Scout is all about?

You are also new and learning the ropes. Cookie selling is stressful, even for experienced leaders. Learn how to be a good leader first. Get a year with your troop under your belt. Collect dues from the girls and visit Pinterest for easy and inexpensive craft ideas.

6. Can I meet with my troop alone? I have no co-leader.

No! You are setting yourself up for a potential lawsuit. No co-leader means no troop meetings.

7. Who buys petals if they get lost?

If a child or parent loses a Daisy petal, then it is their responsibility to replace it. You are volunteering your time to run meetings, you are not a personal shopper. Parents can go on eBay to buy a replacement or take a trip to the Girl Scout store.

8. How do I handle parents who do not RSVP to events?

This is a tough one because while you do not want to punish a girl for her parents' lack of action, you cannot spend your precious time chasing after people. If this is your first year as a leader, you need to draw your line in the sand NOW. How you handle parents this year is how they will be expecting you to handle them in the future. If you are not firm now, you will get more pushback when you decide to get a backbone.

If there is an RSVP date and you have not heard from a parent, the girl does not get to go. Period. This is not on you, this is on the parent.

9. Who pays for events?

Another issue leaders face is using money to pay for events and the girls are no shows. Parents should either pay for all or part of an event. Parents need to have some skin in the game, as very few people value things that are free. It is not them, but the troop, that is out the money if you do not charge them anything.

A written policy also needs to be in place about the girls not showing up. You may want to have parents accountable for the other half of the money that the troop laid out if the girl does not attend.

10. When should I hand out badges and petals?

Young girls need immediate and positive reinforcement. I do not understand leaders who hold onto petals and badges for months to hold a Court of Awards. That is simply one more thing to do (two if you get all Pinteresty about it). Hand them out as they are earned. Save yourself time and effort and let the girls wear what they have earned as soon as they have earned it.

For more information about starting out, you can read:

Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Shop, Leadership Made Simple

10 Tips for Starting a Daisy Troop

10 Craft Items Every Daisy Leader Must Have

The Ultimate New Daisy Girl Scout Leader Checklist

First Daisy Girl Scout Meeting Idea-Girls Help Make the Kaper Chart

Your Very First Daisy Girl Scout Meeting

The Ultimate Girl Scout Daisy Investiture Guide

Girl Scout Daisy Meeting Plans September to December